This extraordinary gory painting, possibly by Caravaggio, was found in an attic in the French city of Toulouse a couple of years ago, but not presented to the public until yesterday. It’s fascinating that it should be revealed at just this time of retrogrades, a time of retrieval — perhaps [...]
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The action planet – sure to make things happen and sparks fly, wherever he goes.
Astrology of Now: Focus and Healing
It’s an extraordinary — and rather difficult — start to 2016. But amidst the tumultuous energies there are some strong positives. Here’s the gen. Mercury is retrograde in Aquarius, then from January 8th, in Capricorn . The time calls for rethinking and practical [...]
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Astrology of Now: Love Subdues Anger
“Love is the one thing stronger than desire and the only proper reason to resist temptation.” ― Jeanette Winterson, Venus and Mars in Virgo “The kiss itself is immortal. It travels from lip to lip, century to century, from age to age. Men and women garner these kisses, offer them to others and [...]
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Out Of Bounds
My colleague Jessica Shephard wrote a short piece about Venus Out Of Bounds a few weeks ago which set me thinking. Out of bounds planets are not something that’s not much discussed by astrologers. We’re all too busy getting our minds around cute new asteroids, imaginary dark points [...]
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Astrology of Now: A Challenge to Faith
To one with faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible. Thomas Aquinas St Thomas Aquinas was not talking about belonging to a particular religion, since in his day — 13th century Italy — he could assume that his readers were inside the same [...]
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The Corruption of Tony Blair
What was the Devil wearing when he offered Tony Blair a sackful of cash for his immortal soul? Was he in a sharp Armani suit, did he don stilettos and shades, or was it a dishdasha and a stetson? Was the approach made in Granita, the Islington restaurant made famous by New Labour, or was it [...]
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Astrology of Now: Battle for the Throne of Ishtar
“…Syrians and Iraqis are both trapped between dictators on the one hand and extremists on the other. An unhappy choice.” from today’s Economist on-line. Yes, that sounds like the situation for a lot of people — more or less — caught in the crossfire of the [...]
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Astrology of Now: Coming Unstuck
We all know it’s been a right old spring so far, or should that be a rite of spring (a ballet which ends with a ritual sacrifice)? With Jupiter in Cancer, emotions have been huge, billowing things, like overfilled water balloons leaking all over the place. Then there were the eclipses in [...]
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11 Things To Do With Mars Retrograde in Libra
You still have until May 20 to use the energy of Mars, the planet of passion, retrograde in Libra, the sign of negotiation. This retrograde began on March 1, so we’ve had a few weeks to begin to see and feel how it works. Personally, I have noticed a surge in my vitality. I’m not [...]
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Mars In Libra In His Own Words
War (1924) by Otto Dix, who had Mars in Libra and turned his experience of battle into art Planets traditionally have signs which they love or hate, where they are comfortable or uncomfortable. The assignment of these rulerships happened a long time ago though — in another time and [...]
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Zeitgeist: Women in Power
The defence ministers of Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany. Here a picture truly does say a thousand words. You don’t need me to explain why it’s momentous. The photograph was taken on Saturday February 1 at around 3pm and on the telephone of the Dutch minister. From [...]
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Love Conquers War: Mars in Libra
Mars and Venus by Sandro Botticelli (c.1483) The god of war –- naked, defenceless, vulnerable – sleeps with his mouth half open, exhausted by lovemaking (we suppose), while Venus, the goddess of love, with not a hair out of place, fully clothed, regards him quite coolly, stroking his ankle [...]
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Father Sun Marries Mother Moon in Summer
The creatures of the Zodiac cavort in a loop through the sky that takes us from midwinter to midsummer and back again. We are used to thinking of them as starting with Aries the Ram and ending with Pisces, the Fishes. But there is another way of ordering the Zodiac that can help you to […]
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Taken at the Flood
The Rhinemaidens The Elbe, the Vistula, the Inn, the mighty Danube himself, the busy Rhine – the rivers of central Europe are swollen, bursting their banks, rolling across the countryside, swallowing roads, cars, houses. Twenty people have lost their lives. The river gods are hungry. They are [...]
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The Three Eclipses of Spring 2013: Part One
Gradually, the familiar golden ball slides behind a disc of silver. Birds fall silent, the air chills, for a moment the day is strange. Solar eclipse. A superseding, a complete annihilation. Emotionally, in English anyway, the word eclipse contains a grain of fear. A black shadow, exactly the [...]
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Some American Aprils
The “Minutemen”, American revolutionaries ready to snatch up their weapons at a moment’s notice, confront the redcoats. Their flexibility, speed and the urgency of their cause was a big factor in their victory. Allied to the fact that they were on home territory. Even though [...]
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It Takes All Sorts, So Why the Martial Emphasis?
A while ago I was asked to talk about astrology to some teenagers at the Museum of the History of Science here in Oxford. For a bit of fun, I asked them each to fill out a short questionnaire. They were to choose three words to describe themselves from a list of different character traits. [...]
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12 Ways To Embrace Mars in Virgo
The action planet Mars has slowly toiled backwards through Virgo for months, but now there is only one more week to go. He turns on the 14th. Then we’ll still have another two months of Mars in Virgo as he makes his way back through almost the entire sign. On July 4, he moves into […]
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Astrology of Now: Relax, Everything’s Retrograde
Ingres: The Turkish Bath. Aries is the sign of beginnings, haste, inspiration. It’s the fire sign that strikes the spark that sets the world aflame. So what happens when the planet of speed, Mercury, turns tail and retreats in such a go-getting part of the Zodiac? And hang on, [...]
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Astrology of Now: Storm Damage and Waiting
JMW Turner. Snow Storm. Let me tell you why you haven’t heard from me for a few days. This is how it was meant to be. I was meant to go out to France on Wednesday and come back Sunday, having graced my elderly parents with my presence, and caused as little disruption to the […]
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